Manchin named chairman of Senate mining panel

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin will chair a subcommittee that oversees national mining policy and mining education and research.

The West Virginia Democrat announced his appointment Friday to the Senate energy subcommittee, saying he'll have a say in many issues state residents care about.

Besides national mining policy, the subcommittee on public lands, forests and mining has oversight over federal mineral leasing, lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, and the establishment of wildlife refuges on public lands and wilderness designations.